Vintage 3″ Oscilloscope


Found this at auction for $15. No name plate and nothing to that effect inside.

It powers on and there’s a trace, but definitely needs help. If I can identify the make and model, I can they try to get a schematic. Depending on what’s gone, I may be able to “make it better.” But vacuum tubes are expensive and things like power transformers may be impossible to get. We’ll see.

Update: It looks like a variant of the US Navy OS-8/U Oscilloscope family from the 1950s. Mine appears to be an OS-8C/U model. (Here’s one of them on Ebay, manufactured by Jetronic.) It’s a general purpose instrument that’ll run on ground (60 Hz) as well as aircraft (400 Hz) power. There’s a case for them-I’ve got a feeler out but suspect the shipping is going to be more than I want to spend for what will become a shelf-display for most visitors.

**Update #2: **After several weeks, I abandoned this restoration. Some of the vacuum tubes needed to be replaced. That was expected. The show-stopper came after determining which electrolytic capacitors would also need to be replaced. They were difficult to reach and would cost more than the vacuum tubes. It would’ve been nice to see the little ‘scope sitting by the ham rig and showing a modulation envelope but, of well, I could buy a nice radio for the same cost. RIP, little fella.

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